Introduction
Dear friends, this is our third in a series of posts about the divine title the Son of God. We pray that it will be a blessing to you to better understand what the Bible says about who Jesus really is. This time, we will consider the Apostle Paul’s testimony before the Areopagus (Acts 17) and deal briefly with what theologians refer to as the 'kenosis'. We will also answer the question, “What is Jesus’ nature?” As before, since we believe the Bible to be God’s inerrant Word, we will reference Bible passages to make our case.
The Apostle Paul Addresses the Areopagus
In Acts chapter 17, the Apostle Paul addresses the Areopagus. In verse 17 he refers to Jesus as the One who “... gives to all people life and breath and all things”. As a side note, remember how we said that Jesus was the righteous one who can pay the price for our sins? Well, later in the same text, Paul reminds his audience that God commands all people everywhere to repent and that Jesus is the One appointed as judge of the world in righteousness...” (Acts 17:30-31). In the same discussion, Paul demonstrates the Christian teaching that Jesus is the eternal God who has always existed, and that he is the only righteous man—meaning he is qualified to take the punishment for our sins! Bearing in mind that the Bible came at least 600 years before the Qur’an, why is it that the writers of the Qur’an did not know this passage, and the others quoted in this article?
The Kenosis
You may remember that last time we shared how Philippians 2:7 states that Jesus “emptied himself”. Theologians refer to this as the 'kenosis'. A question we should address is, when Jesus became a man, did he stop being God? While Jesus does speak of emptying Himself, it must be said that this did not involve Him emptying Himself of His divine attributes. The Scriptures show that He clearly used His divine attributes to display His power by controlling nature and by raising the dead. Crucially, He also possessed the power to forgive sin – and surely you will agree that only God can forgive sin (Mark 4:39; John 11:43-44; Matthew 9:2)! Jesus clearly did not exchange His deity for humanity. The Bible does not teach this. What it does teach us is that, in the incarnation, Jesus remained fully God (Colossians 2:9). On coming to earth, Jesus willingly laid aside all the privileges that were His in heaven. He chose instead to occupy the position of a servant (Philippians 2:8). We can think of this as Jesus having chosen to veil His glory. Ultimately, scriptures reveal to us that Jesus was present at and active in Creation. We see this plainly in the Hebrew text, in the plurality and singularity of Genesis 1:26: “Let us (plu.) make man in our image (sing.)” (cf. John 1:1-4; Hebrews 1:1-2).
So, what is Jesus’ Nature?
Through His miraculous birth, God the Son took on a human body in the incarnation; Jesus became the God-Man – fully God (which is His divine nature) and fully man (which is His human nature); both natures were miraculously and inseparably joined together. Jesus is God’s Son in the sense that he enjoys a uniquely eternal and inseparable relationship with God. Think of it this way, and ask yourself the question, “What am I?” – you would say, “a human”. Then ask yourself another question, “Who am I?” - you would say, “Fatima”, or “Soghra”. If Jesus were to answer what he was, he would say, “I am God and I am a man.” If he were to answer who he was, he would say, “the Second Member of the Trinity, Jesus, the Son of God.”
However, Jesus doesn’t just have a close relationship to God as his Son. We have already mentioned Jesus’ power and authority, but there also is that element of submission in His relationship with the Father. Jesus clearly assumes this role when he speaks of being God’s Son. For example, in John 5:19, Jesus submits to the Father’s will. Muslims will often use this verse to argue that Jesus was “only a prophet”. But, as we read on, a few verses later Jesus declares that the Father “has given all judgement to the Son”. How are we to reconcile these two verses? We read on! In verse 28 of the same passage, Jesus declares that He has the power and authority to raise the dead. And this He will do to either eternal life, or eternal damnation (John 5:28).
Conclusion
Although the meaning is much deeper than this, what we can say is that the term Son is used in part to help us in our limited human understanding, to comprehend that Jesus Christ came from God. John 1:18 says this of Jesus: “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, He has made him known”. Did you catch that? Jesus is at the Father’s side; Jesus is God. Again, this fact must be grappled with, to understand the reality of who Jesus is and what our response ought to be. This concludes our series on the title, Son of God. Do sign up to receive our Newsletter, and next time we will ask the question, “Did Jesus actually claim to be God?” We will ask you to consider where and how Jesus claimed to be God. We will show you that He did, by sharing with you passages from the Bible. Meantime, we would like to leave you with three questions:
Thanks for reading. Until next time, God bless you!
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Al-Hilali, M. T.-u.-D. & Khan, M. M., 1984. Interpretation of the Meanings of the Glorious Qur'an. Riyadh: Dar-us-Salam.
al-Misri, A. i. N., 1994. Reliance of the Traveller: A Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law. Beltsville(Maryland): Amana Publications.
Al-Qaradawi, Y., 1999. The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam (Al-Halal Wal Haram Fil Islam). Indianapolis: American Trust Publications.
Bible, T. H., 2007. The MacArthur Study Bible. ESV ed. Wheaton(Illinois): Crossway.
Bible, T. H., n.d. Bible Gateway. [Online]
Available at: : https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+1%3A18&version=ESV
[Accessed 8 February 2023].
Guillaume, A., 1982. The LIfe of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah. Karachi: Oxford University Press.
Haleem, M. A., 2001. Understanding the Qur'an: Themes and Style. 2 ed. New York: I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd..
McAuliffe, J. D., 2014. The Cambridge Companion to the Qur'an. 8 ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mohamed, I. A., 2015. God's Love For Muslims. London: The Metropolitan Tabernacle.
Pickthall, M. M., 2005. The Meaning of the Glorious Qur'an. 2 ed. London: De-Luxe Printers Ltd.